There is great concern in government and in the food packaging industry for potential environmental hazards associated with disposable plastic containers used in the packaging and sale of beverages such as milk, water, juice, etc., other liquids or semi-liquids (viscous liquids) such as detergents, ketchup, etc., as well as flowable non-liquids such as powders, granules, and salts, etc. It has been estimated, for example, that in the dairy industry alone, as much as 500 million pounds of plastic are required each year for consumer oriented container applications, virtually all of which eventually finds its way to landfills and/or other waste sites. Significant amounts of scrap plastic are also produced by the manufacture of such large amounts of plastic, thereby also contributing to the waste problem. The thin walled container assemblies of my above identified parent application alleviate this problem to the extent of reducing the plastic required to form, for example, a one-gallon container by about fifty percent.
In order to fully utilize the advantages of the thin walled, flexible and disposable containers as described in my above identified parent application, it is desirable to provide a carrier which will securely hold the thin walled container during use, and particularly during pouring. In other words, while the thin walled containers of my parent application are sufficiently strong as to be sold separately as replacements or refills on the shelf with no supporting carrier, the use of the container and particularly the pouring of contents therefrom is made easier and less prone to spilling, because the user need not directly grasp the flexible sidewall of the container.
In accordance with this invention, therefore, a carrier device with an integral handle is provided for receiving and holding a thin walled, flexible and collapsible container. The carrier may be a one-time purchase, or at least a seldom purchased item for the consumer, to be used repeatedly with subsequently purchased refills, while the empty thin walled container itself may be disposed of after use in the normal fashion.
In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the carrier includes relatively rigid lower and upper portions. The lower portion includes a generally cylindrical bucket-like member including a peripheral side wall and a bottom wall. The upper end of the lower portion is open and terminates in an upper peripheral edge. An upper portion of the carrier includes a pair of elongated, relatively rigid strap portions which extend from opposite sides of a container neck engaging portion. The free end portions of the respective strap portions are provided with profiled apertures which are adapted to fit over a pair of projections extending from opposite sides of the lower portion of the carrier.
In this first exemplary embodiment, each of the projections extending from the lower carrier portion include elongated stem portions joined to the lower carrier portion at one end and provided with enlarged heads at the other end. The apertures in the upper carrier strap portions each comprise an elongated slot portion and an enlarged circular portion joined to form a single profiled aperture. This arrangement enables the strap portions to be slidably mounted over the enlarged heads of the above described projections, to thereby attach the upper carrier portion to the lower carrier portion in such a way as to permit pivotal movement of the upper carrier portion about a horizontal axis extending between the opposed projections. When the upper carrier portion has been pivoted to a container neck engaging position, the strap portions may be pulled upwardly slightly to cause locking engagement of the elongated stem portion of the projections within the elongated slot portions of the apertures, to preclude any subsequent pivoting movement of the upper carrier portion relative to the lower carrier portion.
Thus, it may be appreciated that the upper carrier portion, through manipulation of the strap portions, may be pivoted about the oppositely extending projections to permit loading and unloading of a thin walled container within the lower carrier portion. After loading of a thin walled container within the lower portion, the upper carrier portion may then be pivoted into engagement with the container neck, and thereafter pulled upwardly to insure releasable locking engagement of the upper carrier portion relative to the lower carrier portion.
In this exemplary embodiment, the container neck engaging portion of the upper carrier portion is designed to snugly engage the container neck just below an outwardly directed radial flange of the thin walled container.
The upper carrier portion also includes an integral handle portion extending between one side of the container neck engaging portion and the lower end of one of the strap portions, to thereby define a closed loop handle which facilitates lifting and carrying of the assembly, as well as pouring contents from the container.
The above described arrangement provides a unique, easy to use thin walled container carrier which is adapted for relatively permanent use, i.e., it is designed to be used repeatedly with thin walled, disposable container refills.
In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a container carrier is provided with a lower carrier portion substantially identical to that described above. The upper carrier portion differs to the extent that one of the strap portions extending between the container engaging neck portion and the lower carrier portion is modified to serve as the handle. In addition, the bail elements are modified to assume a simpler shape, cooperable with side opening slots on the lower ends of the strap portions, enabling essentially the same type of pivoting movement as described above. Cooperable detents and projections are also provided on the lower carrier portion and strap portions, respectively, to insure that the upper carrier portion is secure in both the container neck engaging position and in the loading/unloading position.
Thus, in accordance with a broader aspect of the invention, a thin walled container carrier is provided which comprises (a) a lower carrier portion including a peripheral sidewall, a bottom wall, and an upper peripheral edge; and (b) a pivotable upper carrier portion including a pair of strap portions detachably secured at first ends to the lower carrier portion at diametrically opposed locations and terminating at a container neck engaging portion integrally formed between second ends of the strap portions.
In a related aspect, this invention relates to a combination thin walled container and thin walled container carrier assembly which comprises
(a) a container carrier including a lower carrier portion having a peripheral sidewall, a bottom wall, and an upper peripheral edge; an upper carrier portion pivotably secured at first ends to the lower carrier portion at diametrically opposed locations, and including a container neck engaging portion; and a carrying handle; and
(b) a flexible and collapsible container adapted to be carried by the carrier assembly and a relatively thin peripheral side wall, a bottom wall and a top wall, the top wall having an integrally formed neck portion including closure receiving means formed thereon.
Additional objects and advantages of the subject invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.